It takes an entire village to staff a fire department. Especially In West Barnstable, which has 41 volunteers and only five full-time career firefighters.

Many of the volunteers love their work so much that they find paying jobs in neighboring departments. That leaves Chief Joe Maruca needing a constant flow of new volunteers – and it takes a year to train them. Factor in the weak economy and the dwindling population of younger people on Cape Cod, and the chief has a real challenge.

As he wrote in his 2009 Long Range Plan for the department, “According to the Barnstable School Department there are 47 high school seniors living in the West Barnstable Fire District, but this number is projected to drop to 30 over the next ten years.”

So Maruca reached back to his own youth in Longmeadow for a recruitment idea.

The “Exploring” program, an outgrowth of scouting that offers career education for young women and men aged 15-20, was Maruca’s route into the fire service in the 1970s. “From my post [“Exploring’s” term for a troop], we have four captains, a chief, and an EMS [Emergency Medical Service] coordinator,” he said with pride.

So he decided to see how “Exploring” would work in West Barnstable. And so far, so good.

Since the first information meeting on Jan. 21, the “Exploring” junior firefighters have become an official Post, number 294, with 16 youth enrolled. They come from Barnstable. Cape Cod Regional Technical, and Sandwich high schools.

The group meets at the fire station on Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8.

Because it is so early in its development, Post 294 is still concentrating on social introductions, team-building, and organization. They have had sessions on CPR and the automated external defibrillator, and bandaging and splinting. Last night Geoffrey Bartlett spoke about his experiences with emergency services after the earthquake in Haiti.

Later this month meetings will focus on fire chemistry and extinguishers; wildfire (with discussion of a possible camping trip); and self-contained breathing apparatus. They also plan to attend, possibly with a similar group from Yarmouth, a drill for adult firefighters that will be held in Truro on March 27. The youth will staff a canteen table with water and coffee.

There is plenty of adult support for the junior firefighters. The Post’s advisor, Stacey McGlame of West Barnstable, got involved simply by answering a newspaper ad for volunteers. And the department’s AmeriCorps volunteer, Amy Ranum, was willing to add the junior firefighter post to her portfolio. Her primary duty is to research water supplies for a department that serves a district with no hydrants.

Firefighters from the department and from neighboring districts are donating their time, too, said Maruca, and McGlame added that many parents of the group are involved either in firefighting or in a medical field, and are helping as well.

McGlame emphasized, however, that the main point of “Exploring” is enabling the youth to organize themselves to plan their own activities and choose what they want to learn and how they want to serve. “We’re instilling leadership skills,” Ranum agreed.

Plus, said Maruca, who observed that it takes 10 to 12 new volunteers each year just to keep the volunteer roster level, “an Explorer Post accelerates training” so that its graduates are ready sooner for their roles as adult volunteers.

Three of the new Explorers shared their thoughts about the program. Rebecca Slamin of Sandwich wants to be a nurse and thought the exposure to first-responder training would be good background. She learned of the Post from McGlame, who is a friend of her mother’s. “I like that it’s an older age group,” she added. “This is something that little kids can’t do.”

Matthew Cikins of Centerville heard about the program from his mother and was enthusiastic right away because he plans to enter the fire service as soon as he graduates from Cape Tech. He called the program “very interesting.”

Michael Lanahan of Marstons Mills found out about the junior firefighters from his Boy Scout troop. “It sounded like a very good opportunity for me because I want to go into the firefighting service in the Air Force,” he said. “The programs are really good and I think they’ll be a clean shot straight into the fire service or the EMS.”

As serious as the goals of the Post and its members might be, there’s plenty of camaraderie as well. “It’s fun,” said Chief Maruca. “I wish I had one more night a week” to meet with the young people. “They’re refreshing to deal with.”

More information about the West Barnstable Fire Department Exploring Program is available from Amy Ranum at 508-362-3241. The National Volunteer Fire Council’s Junior Firefighting Program’s Web site is http://juniors.nvfc.org/ “Exploring’s” Web site is http://www.learningforlife.org/exploring/fire/index.html Post 294’s e-mail is JuniorWBFD@gmail.com